StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that allows you to find and recommend websites of interest. Overtime, StumbleUpon learns what type of websites interest you and then delivers more of these sites. Like Facebook and Twitter, you can see what websites your friends like and share with them, too.

I like how Chris Crum summarizes StumbleUpon's value. He says, "it’s putting your brand out there for one thing, and if you create enough content that people want to stumble, that brand will likely appear from time to time in various users’ stumble path."

You might be surprised to hear that StumbleUpon beat Facebook this year in terms of social media traffic in the U.S.. This statistic came from research firm, Statcounter.

Remember how Google dislikes Facebook? Well Google also dislikes StumbleUpon. If you have created a Google+ account, you may have noticed the Sparks feature. StumbleUpon is very similar to Sparks although both perform differently. Time will tell which tool becomes the most widely adapted.

So how can StumbleUpon benefit your business? Here are the top five tips that I like the most:

1) Build a network of StumbleUpon friends (so you can share your website and these friends can share it with their friends, too).

3) Promote your own StumbleUpon presence (how else will people know that your website can be found through this tool?)

4) Use the StumbleUpon button on your content (if you do not show it, people will not know it)

5) Create content that is entertaining, interesting, important, or just awesome (people will want to keep reading something exciting, right?)

Perhaps it is time to create a StumbleUpon account for your business and have the potential to drive more traffic to your website. After all, we all stumble on something cool online.

Have you joined StumbleUpon? If so, has it generated traffic to your company’s website? How do you promote your StumbleUpon presence?

About Alan Moore: Alan is an Internet Marketing Consultant with ReachLocal Baltimore. His mission is to help you increase your revenues and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He manages over $1,000,000 in yearly marketing budgets and has worked with local businesses, agencies and the US government. Give him a call at (877)655-3438 to schedule a free consultation.